Category: Changes

Australia · Changes · family · gardening · grandchildren · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · Tweed Valley · winter

Approaching the middle of winter

Joanne5 Comments

It’s a glorious time of year in the subtropics! Each night is cool enough to warm the house with our fireplace, I can wear cosy winter clothes for a few weeks, and on Monday I spent the whole day gardening without breaking out in a sweat at all.

Today we had our third day of rain for the week, so gardening has been put on hold. It wasn’t too difficult to stay indoors to keep dry and warm though. The valley – and most of our garden – has been hidden by mist all day, so todays photo of Mount Warning is one I took last week.

It had been overcast weather all day, then as nightfall approached, in the distance, beyond the mountain and grey sky, a strip of light sky appeared. It was a stunning sight, and something a bit different to our usual sunsets.

“Life” has taken up more of my time than usual recently. What with final university assignment writing at the end of semester 1, and various family events, my blogging, and visiting blogger friends’ sites had to be put on hold. Also, my son, daughter-in-law and two of my grandsons have moved in recently. They sold their home, put a deposit on a new home, but when the building report on their prospective new home wasn’t up to par, they pulled out of the sale.

Meanwhile, houses in our area are in high demand. With more people buying than selling, house prices are on the rise, and Covid 19 is the culprit. People are selling up and leaving the capital cities, where covid “lock-downs” have become a regular occurance. Many people are relocating to areas such as ours where we have been virtually covid-free from the beginning of the pandemic, searching for freedom.

The changing market has forced many locals into a similar situation, so they simply have to be patient. The right house will become available for my son and his family eventually. In the meantime, I can enjoy grandson-cuddles every single day, which isn’t a bad thing at all! ❤

I have one last photo for today of a pair of kookaburras, taken last month, looking at something that obviously caught their eye. They are gorgeous characters, these birds. 🙂

Hopefully by tomorrow, the weather will have cleared and I will see the mountain again!

Australia · Changes · clouds · colours · flowers · garden flowers · gardening · in my garden · Mount Warning · quotes · rain · summer · sunrise · Tweed Valley

Something Beautiful

Joanne16 Comments

When you do something beautiful and nobody notices, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle, and yet most of the audience still sleeps. ~~ John Lennon

When the early morning sun put on a beautiful specticle today, someone noticed. Luckily for me, I was awake to see the gentle, muted colours caught in interesting cloud patterns across the sky over Mount Warning.

Once, rising at 6:00 am seemed horrendous, yet now I look forward to seeing the changes in the sky, clouds and light as the earth awakens.

Lately, with all the rain and blustery weather we have had, there have been several mornings when the mountain hasn’t been visible at all, so I really appreciate the fine-weather mornings. The current La Niña weather pattern has sent parts of my garden into a tizz, with all the small green mango fruit blowing off the tree before it had a chance to mature, and we hardly have any frangipani flowers left. Only those flowers hidden among the leaves on the safer, northern side of the tree have survived.

Surprisingly, our hibiscus hedge is doing very well this year. We only bought one plant back in the days when we were establishing our new garden, and from that one plant, a creamy-peach colour, we grew more from cuttings. When a neighbour pruned their pink hibiscus, they were happy for us to take a few cuttings to strike for our garden, so our colour scheme was decided upon.

Some years, the excessive humidity and lack of rain bothers the hibiscus and we see few flowers. This year, the plants seem to be flourishing with the extra rain and we have a beautiful array of flowers.

Seeing the changes in the weather, which affects everything – the sky, the view, and especially the plants in the garden is what I enjoy most about spending time outdoors. In the garden, from season to season, you just never know which flowers and plants will be the star performers. And during summer, in the early morning, while much of the world still sleeps, it is the best time of day to spend time with nature. 🙂

Australia · Changes · clouds · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · summer · sunrise · Tweed Valley

Getting back into routine

Joanne5 Comments

Today is the first day since before Christmas that life feels like it has regained a touch of normality. Husband went to work, I fed the birds and indoor pets, then sat down to eat breakfast.

The phone rang as soon as I put milk on my cereal.

Of course it did! That’s normal in my house. 😉

Morning visitor.

There was still cloudy skies and rain about this morning. I’m loving the coolness of the last few days so much! I wish every summer day felt like it has recently, comfortably warm, with little humidity. After a coolish night, there was a hint of mist across the ranges and Mount Warning, which looked very pretty.

Later in the day the sun appeared for a while and the mountain looked extremely clear. I was a bit caught up in work related matters though, so didn’t pause to take any more photos after capturing this morning’s mist and layers of clouds.

Morning mist.

On the subject of Mount Warning, yesterday I read the sad news that the chains at the summit of the mountain, there to help hikers reach the top, have been removed. Apparently this is to discourage people from climbing the mountain, as the local indigenous people believe the mountain is a sacred site and don’t want people climbing the mountain. Needless to say, many locals are shocked by the news, as climbing the mountain has been enjoyed by people of all ethnicities for as long as anyone can remember, without a word of complaint.

Some cynics predict that in the near future, a fee will be charged for the pleasure of enjoying a hike that was once free. We will have to see what eventuates.

 

Australia · blessings · Changes · clouds · colours · Mount Warning · rain · seasons · subtropical weather · summer · sunset · Tweed Valley

On a hot summer’s day.

Joanne10 Comments

It really felt like summer weather today.

I awoke to a bright sunny day and a clear mountain, so took my first photo at 7:12am. You never know how long the mountain will remain clear on a subtropical summer’s day.

By 11:18am the valley was at its magical best. No clouds hampered the clarity of Mount Warning or the ranges, so it was time to take another photo.

While we were eating lunch, my husband noticed a change in the weather, so checked the Bureau of Meterology website. He discovered that there were three storms heading our way, although he thought that perhaps we would only feel the tail-end effects of the combined storms.

Thunder rolled in the distance, light rain began to fall, and within half an hour the ‘storm’ was over. All that remained was the intensity of summer humidity, leaving the air so heavy you felt you could reach out and touch it. The heat this afternoon was the kind that makes me dread summer, every year. I loathe breathing in hot air and feeling as if there are a thousand spiders crawling across my skin!

The striking changes in the valley after the storm had passed soon took my mind off the heat. I took the photo above at 6:00pm. The mono tone is the actual colour of the valley at that time. The next photo shows the changes in the valley and the sky just half an hour later …

The swirl of misty clouds in the valley were replaced by a brilliant sunlit sky.

Beyond the yellow and orange, a patch of blue and cloudy sky continued down to the horizon.

This is how I cope with summer! Summer is the only season when the weather can change the appearance of the mountain and valley so drastically.

What an absolute blessing of contrasts nature provides. ❤